The Settlements And Huts Of Svalbard

Transcript

Norges Svalbard- og Ishavs-undersøkelser Meddelelse nr. 46 Særtrykk av Norsk Geografisk Tidsskrift, Bind VII, Hefte 5-8, 1939, p. 571-584. ANDERS K. ORVIN THE SETTLEMENTS AND HUTS OF SVALBARD A. W. B R Ø G G E R S B0 KT R Y K KE R I A/S - 0 S L 0 Særtrykk av Nor s k Geografisk Tidsskrift, B. VII, H. 5-8, p. 571-584. Oslo 1939. THE SETTLEMENTS AND HUTS OF SVALBARD BY ANDERS K. 0RVIN A mong the high Arctic countries Svalbard (Spitsbergen and adjacent islands and Bear Island) occupies a singula1l1 y favourable position as regards both accessibility and exploitation. The islands have there­ fore been settled to an extent quite unknown in other countries situated in the same latitude. Se1ttlements are alway's changing, hence it is difficult to show them correctly on a map. Almost every year new huts are being built, or old ones are removed or being ruined by the action of the weather or by polar-bears. M.any of the more isolated huts are visited only at intervals of several years, so that their present state is not always known. The localities of a few huts are not exactly known and they have therefore been omitted from the map. The hut map does not claim to be accurate in every detail, but it i's approxim­ ately correct. Through a number of years the Ishavs-undersøkelser Norges Svalbard- og in Os1lo have collected information about the huts through personals visits to the spot, talks with hunters, by con­ sulting books, articles, and hurrters' diarie·s. Informwtion on , the 1subject of thi s artic1e is t-0 through 1the literature on Svalbaæd. be found soattered Much useful information is to be found in the works of Gunnar Isachsen, Gunnar Holmsen, Hans Reusch, and .Adolf Hoel. For the purpose of the map a hut has been oonsidered fit for use, 1 equently the ca1se, it lacks glass in ,the windows, usable even if, as 1s fr stoves etc. Only when the huts are in so poor a state that repair seems useless, have they been classed as "badly damaged". In addition to the localities given in 'the map, there are a number of points which quite recently have had huts, which however have been totally disturbed or removed. 2 When the accompanying map had been prepared there appeared a settlement map of Svalbard by H. Dege, published in Petermanns Mitteilungen 1939, No. 5. accurate. This map is, however, incomplete and in­ Dege's map show1s only 130 point with huts etc., whereas the actual number is abt. 210. The situation and character of many of his settlement localities are also misleading. I have for this reason no hesitation in publiishing the accompanying map. In this paper I intend to deal quite briefly with the settlements and huts, in particul:ar with ithe more important centæs. Bear Island has not been included here, as the houses and huts there have been dealt with in detail in Skrifter om Svalbard og Ishavet, The old accounts tell us No. 15. that shortly after the discovery of Spits­ bergen in 1596, when whaling began, cookeries and other buildings were established on shore. Occasionally people wintered, but as whaling declined these shore eistablishments fe11 into dtsuse, and not much can have been left of them when Russian hunters commenced to winter about 1715. In the following 100 years the Russians were practically alone on the islands. They carried out hunting in much the same way as the Norwegians do to-day. They lived in head quarters consisting of a couple of huts ·including a steam bath-room, and during their hunting trips they spent the nights in small secondar.y stations. The last of the Russian hunters wintered on the north coast about the year 1850, an d even as late as towards the end of the century Russiarn huts, built of drift-wood, could be found. It is said that one or two drift-wood huts still standing in Wijdefjorden are from the Russian period. Russian house sites are to be found at many points, but usually all that remains ar·e pieces of .timber, bricks, birch-bark, various domestic utensHs, and occasionally some white bones or skulls can be seen, brought from the old graves by a fox or a polar-bear. The Russian settlement is there · fore now past history. Norwegian hunters did not begin to put up huts untH the year 1822, when a hut was built on the north side of Bear Island, and two log cabins in Krossfjorden. Grønfjorden (Green Harbour). In 1825 a small house was erected in All these bui1dings have dtsapper a ed long ago, and no building activity is reported during the follow­ ing years. 3 Fig.1 4 Fig. 2. Hunter's hut built of drift-wood, Kapp Petermann, Wijdefjorden. Adolf Hoel phot. 1912. The oldest Norwegian house in Svalbard now standing is probably the house built on Bear Island by Sivert Tobiesen in 1865. A Uttle later the Hjemgaard hut in Calypsobyen is believed to have been erected by the merchant Hjemgaard of Vardø; and in 1873 the expedi­ tion of Ole Barth Tollefsen put up a " gamme" (Lapp hut) in Coles­ bukta, and used i t for smoking meat. In 1872 two spacious and fine houses were built by Swedish expeditions, viz. Polhem at Mossølbukita, built by A. E. Nordenslci.old, and Svenskehuset {The Swedish House) on Kapp Thordsen erooted by the expedi.tion of P. Oberg on behalf of a Swedi·sh company for the exploi>taition of the phosphonite deposits here. The following winter the latter house was the soone of a terrible event, for 17 Norwegian hunters whose ships had became beset arrived at the house, but died in the course of the winter from scurvy. An Englishman, Arnold Pike, had in the year 1888 a substantial house bunt on the north side of Danskøya where he spent the winter. His house was also used by An dree , Wellman and other.s, but was pulled down and sold to the then Dutch mining settlement Barentsburg in 1925; on whose authority it is not kno wn. 5 Fig. 3. Hunter's headquarter, Kapp Wijk, Nordfjorden. Adolf Hoel phot. 1936. Until the end of the nineties, when the Norwegians ·started their winterings for the purpose of hunting fur animals, only very few new huts were built. But in 1896 there was brisk activity in Spitsbergen: Andree was putting up his balloon shed on Danskøya, and M. Thams & Co, Trondheim built an hotel on the point at the entrance to Advent­ fjorden on behalf of Vesterålske dampskibsselskap which had est­ ablished a tourist route to Spitsbergen. time borne the name "Hotellneset". · The point has from that As late as 1862 a Russian hut oould be seen here, and in 1895 Klaus Thue of Tromsø had his hut on the point. Thue has been one of the most oonstant visirtors to Spitsbergen, having spent no less than 45 summers .there. After having changed hands onoe, the hote! was purchased in 19-05 by the ffilom of Ayer and Longyear of Boston, U. S. A., and in 1907 the building was taken to Longyear City (now Longyearbyen) to be used as a store (shop). The hunting huts built about the turn of the century were usuaHy put up by expeditions sent out by fur firms - many of Tromsø but later it became the practice for the hunters themselves to fit out the expeditions, build the huts or hire a hut and trap on their 6 Flg. 4. House built in connection with the capturing of white-fish, Van Keulenfjorden. A. K. Orvin phot. 1936. own account. It is often difficult to find out who has bunt the oldest hut.s, because these have been moved, rebuHt O'l' repaired to such a degree that no.t much may be left of the original house. Two ·huts bunt by Martin Ekroll on Andersonøyane and on Kong Ludvigøyane in 1894 are now totally disturbed. L. Hagerup put up four huts in Bellsund in 1898, but only the hut at Midterhuken is still fit for ooe. The hut at Kapp Laila in Colesbukta and .the one at Alkhornet were both erected by Hans Tufjord in 1905. Møller's expe­ dition from Hammerfest had a hut on Halvmåneøya in 1897, and in 1901 Hjalmar Jensen's expedition bunt some huts on Edgeøya and Zieglerøya. Different expeditions continued the hut building in this district irn 1904--06. Those now in use, however, are more recent. The expedi:tions of Olaus Andersen put up huts at Hornsund in 1907, at Kvalv ågen in 1909, at Krossfjorden in 1910 and on the west side of Wijdefjorden in 1910 and 1912. The oldest hut in Sassendalen is pro'bably used by L. J. Nisja 1900-01. Daniel Nøis had huts in Tempelfjorden and east of Grønfjorden from 1907, Ole Hokstad erected huts on Flathuken, Biskayerhuken and in Raudfjorden 1907, and at St. Jonsfjorden an expedition from Tromsø put up a hut in the same year. 7 Flg. 6. The Norwegian mining settlement Hiorthhamn, Adventfjorden. A. K. Orvin phot. 1926. In 1908 huts were built in Nordaustlandet by Grødahl's expe­ dition, Sverdrup Zachariassen and Johan Sivertsen, whose party died of .scurvy in Beverleysundet. On the east side of Wijdefjorden Nor­ wegian huts were at first erected by Hans Jensen's expedition in 1921, and in Lomfjorden huts were bunt in 1923 and 1924. I. A. Killengreen's expediltion ereoted the oldest huts in Hopen in 1908, but ·the present huts are of a more recent date. The oldest huts at Sørkapp and Kistefjellet ave from about the same year. The grooter part of the bunting huts were built later ·than 1910, but space does not pilrmit an enumeration of the builders and year of e rection . Most of the huts shown as "hunter's station" on the map were .built by Norwegians for bunting purposes. Some of them, however, were constr�cted by others, e. ·g. Nor.thern Exploration Co., Ltd., but used for bunting purposes; they are therefore classed as such. As it will appear from the map a number of houses haYe been built to serve other purposes. The ma jority of them were built by companies or persons who had claimed land to prospect for coal and minerals, etc., but some were erected for scientific use, or as quarters for persons taking trips overland. Many of these huts are now only in use for bunting, or are vacant and are falling into disrepair. 8 Fig. 6. Longyearbyen, Ad ventfjorden. W. With the advent of mining in Svalbard ohanged completely. Solheim phot. 1936. the standard of housing Previously the habitations had oonsisted of very rude bunting huts and a hetter class of house used by scientific expeditions. There now sprang up mining camps with workmen's barracks, messes, shops, stores, cinema-.bui:lding,s, schools, ood al,so a church as in Longye arbyen We shall here deal quite briefly and growth of the mining se.ttlemenrts. . with the establishment In Adventfjorden .two companies sta:vted work at about the same time. The English company, The .Sp1tsbergen Coal aind Tuading Co. Ltd., did preliminary work and establishd e their mind.ng oomp Advent City from 1902. Mining operartions lasted from 1905 to 1908 when ,the "Oiity" consisted of 13 houses. The property of the comparny was sold to the Norwegiarn company A/S De Noæske , Kulfelw mu�h damaged alJld some are entirely destroyed. kept up as a bunting statin o . Only a small huit is being 12 West of Ingeborgfjellet, on the nor:th side of Bellsund, 1the N. E. C. put up a house in 1908 called Camp BeH, 1still in a good condi1tion, and two houses oolled Camp MiUar. On the a The latter arre now badly damaged. coal tract on the south side of the mouth of the Bellsund company had wirnless statfon. its establishment, Calypso City, with its own The hous1es were built in ithe years 1918-21 and are iS'till in a famly good sfarte. A couple are used by hunters. At Hedgehogfjelleit on the wesit side of Storfjor·den 1the same com­ pany had ·three houseis buitt in 1920. One has disappeared, and the other two, bunt tog,either, are in a bad .sitate. About the 1same time four house,s were put up at Iron Mountain Camp on the easit side of Recherchefjorden irn conneotion wiih the iron ol'e deposi1t8. good shape. Three of 1the houses are 1sti1l standing and in fair 1 ly Another miining camp somewhat fa.rther to the north has since been oomple1tely removed. The company had also a number of hut:s afong the coast from Storfjorden fo 'the north-west corner of Spitsbergen, and most of them are stHil standing. Another British company, The Scottish Spitsbergen Syindicate, erected Bruoe Ciity on 1the ea:st side of Billefjorden, and a1so houses in Gipsbukta, Gipsdalen, and on Prins Karls Forland. The company is still iin possession ,of these houses, some of which are, however, in a very bad 1state. On Bohemanneset a hut was built by Isefjord Kulkompani in 1900, and later a few houses hav.e been ptaoed here by ithe Nederlandsche Spiitsberg;en Oompagnie for the purpose of e�amining the coal occur i ­ rence, which now belong .to the Arctic Ougol. Other quiite important houses 1should 1a1'so be mentioned in an article dealiing wi.th serttlement,s in Svalbard. In 1904 Johannes Giæver of Tromsø had a private "summer house" bui1t on the west side of RecheTchefjorden. The house itse 1 lf is sitill standing, but the stove etc. has been taken away. At Ankerhamna in Grønfjorden the whaling company Spitsbergen of Tønsberg buHt the.ir larnd sta1tion in the year 1900. In 1908 the establishment was 1S0l1 d to the wha1ing company Nimrod of Sandefjord, who used it until 1912. The year before, the Norwegian State had 1el"ected a hig wireless station at the same point. The sta:tion was in opemtion until 1929, when the service was fa·ansferred to Longyear- 13 byen. In 1933 the fun r iture, etc. was taken away, but the house is well builit arnd rthe radio masts are st.anding. The meteorologioal service i•s now carrri.ed oUJt by Isfjord Radio at Ifapp Linne, thl'S •station havirng been erected in 1933. In the same year a beacon light was erected here as well as at the entmnces of Grønfjorden and Adventfjorden. In 1920 a geophysic rstation was erected at Kvadehuken on ,the south side of the mouth of Kongsfjorden. The staHon was in operation until 1924, and has since been sold and moved to Colesbukta. A German scientific station was erected at Ebeltofthamna in Kross­ fjorden in 1912 and is still standing. The Swedish-Rus,sian Are-of-Meridian Expedition had two big stations in Spitsbergoo: One bunt by ,the Swedes at Sorgfjorden in 1899; and one 1by rthe Russilms in 1900 at Gåshamna on the ,south side of Hornsund. The main bui1ding of the Swedish station is much damaged, but a •small house next fo it has been rep1a1Jred. Of the Russian houses 1therve remains the labomtory building, now being used as a hunting sfation, and the observatory :iitself now ,serving as a store-room. The hut in Spitsbergen si·tuated at :the highes1t altitude was built 1049 m above sea·level on the summit of NordenskiOldfjellet for a Swedish scientific exp1edition in 1932. In the summer of 1936 ithe Norwegian Government had huts built on Barent,søya, Svenskøya, and Kong,søya to 1the ,ea1s1t of Spitsbergen, and on Sjuøyane in 1the north for the benefit of expeditions in di1stress. For ithe same purpose the Gov,emment acqui:red the house builit in 1935 by the British Glen expeilition on the north side of Brennevinsfjorden. In the last few yea'l:ls rthe coal company "Store Norske" as well as private persons have put up huts in the Adventfjord area. These huits are being used for weekend trips and aJS night quarters for 1thos� travelling in the interiO'I.'. The erieotion of fufl'ther huts in the inland between I,sfjm•den and Bensund has been plainned. As wi11 appear from 'the aoove the number of dwelling houses and huts in Svalbard is quHe a consiidemble one, and settlement has never been so ,extensive as it is to-day. The country will probBJbly not be able to suppo1.1t morie huntervs than it does now, buit it is likely that the miining_ industry will continue to grow a:nd wiith it the building aotivity in the mining ,dis'triots. 14 The population of Svalbard during the last two winters was: Longyearbyen and Sverdrup.byen Sveagruva . ........... ........ 1937-38 1938-39 622 676 0 3 1610 900 377 600 2 2 Kapp L1inne . .. ................. 3 2 Bjørnøya 3 3 36 24 2653 2210 Barentsburg . ........... ...... Grumanthyen ........... .. .... Hiorthhamn (Moskushamn) ..... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hun ters Total NORGES SVALBARD- OG ISHAVS-UNDERSØKELSER Observatoriegaten 1 ,' Oslo MEDDELELSER: Nr. 1. 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SJEDLECKI, STANISLAW, Crossing West Spitsbergen from south to north. Særtr. av Norsk Geogr. Tidsskr., b. 7, b. 2. 1938. SooT-RYEN, T" Some Pelecypodsfrom Franz.fosef Land, Victoriaøya and Hopen. Collected on the Norwegian Scientific Expedition 1930. 1939. LYNGE, B., A small Contribution to the Lichen Flora of the Eastern S11albard Islands. Lichens collected by Mr. Olaf Hanssen in 1930. 1939. HORN, GUNNAR, Recent Norwr!gian Expeditions to South-East Greenland. - Særtr. av Norsk Geogr. Tidsskr., b. 7, h. 5-8. 1939. ORVIN, ÅNDERS K" The Se ttlements and Huts of Svalbard - Særtr. av Norsk Geogr. Tidsskr., b. 7, h. 5-8. 1939. A. W. BRØOOERS BOKTRYKKERI Als